1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for depositing seasoning on a stackable chip product and, in particular, to a series of vibrating funnel fingers for precise direction of the seasoning on the chips traveling tip to tip in discrete lanes down a seasoning conveyor.
2. Description of Related Art
Granular or powdered seasoning is typically added to snack food chips, such as potato chips, tortilla chips, corn chips, and the like, after the product has been cooked and prior to packaging. Such snack food is typically seasoned by sprinkling seasoning of one form or another on the surface of the individual snack items. Examples of this process include seasoning potato chips with salt, barbeque flavoring, cheese flavoring, sour cream flavoring, or vinegar flavoring. A typical barbeque flavoring comprises brown sugar, onion powder, corn syrup solids, and cheddar cheese of various particle sizes. A typical cheese flavoring comprises dehydrated cheese, sugar, cheddar cheese, and cultured milk. A typical sour cream flavoring comprises lactose, sugar, sour cream, cultured cream, cheddar cheese, and onion powder. Such seasonings that contain dehydrated cheese and other cheese products are very hydroscopic, requiring handling in an environment with low humidity and relatively cool ambient temperatures.
The application of granular or powdered seasoning to a chip product is typically accomplished by introducing the unseasoned snack food into a cylindrical seasoning drum or tumbler, as is more fully discussed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,939, U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,593 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,907, all of which are directed to an apparatus and method for distributing seasoning on snack food items.
Typically, the seasoning drum is tilted at an inclined angle and is axially rotated at a relatively low rotation speed. The chips are introduced at the more elevated end of the drum. The combination of the tilt and rotation causes the chips to travel continuously down the drum toward an exit at the lower end of the drum. A horizontal, non-rotating seasoning dispenser is extended into the drum for distribution of the granular or powdered seasoning onto the chips while the chips are gently tumbled in the drum. This method of seasoning chips provides an even distribution of the seasoning over the chips in the drum, which are then typically routed to weighers and a form and fill machine for packaging of the chips in flexible containers.
The use of a drum for seasoning chips, however, is not practical when the chip product is intended to be stacked in a container, such as a form fried, stackable potato chip packaged in a cylindrical, tube-like container. As noted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,988,875, directed to an apparatus for producing and packaging food chips, a preferred method for packaging stackable chips involves keeping the chips in a specific orientation in aligned rows throughout the cooking, seasoning, and packaging process. The chips are form-fried and then placed on a conveyor in discrete lanes or columns to proceed for further seasoning and stacking during the packaging process. The use of a seasoning drum for a stacked chip product would require a subsequent orientation step wherein each chip would need to be realigned in lanes with other chips and properly oriented for nested stacking. Additionally, the seasoning drum would introduce a certain amount of product breakage, which is unacceptable in a stacked chip presentation.
In place of a seasoning drum, a seasoning curtain for distributing granular or powdered seasoning onto the chips as they pass below the curtain on a conveyor has been used in the prior art for seasoning stackable chips. After form-frying, the chips travel down a seasoning conveyor oriented in columns. The chips are sprinkled with salt or other seasoning on one side of the chips from a conventional seasoner located above the conveyor. (Because the chips are stacked, it is not necessary to season both sides of the chips. The seasoning applied to the one side of a chip tends to season the opposite side of the next chip stacked on top.) The seasoning conveyor is typically a continuous open-mesh belt which allows any seasoning that is not deposited on a chip to fall through the belt for collection underneath the seasoning conveyor. Depending on the nature of the seasoning applied, the excess seasoning can then be discarded or, preferably, recycled.
The use of a seasoning curtain for distribution of seasoning on stackable chips using such a seasoning conveyor understandably leads to a relatively high volume of excess seasoning falling past the chips and through the conveyor, particularly between the non-occupied space on the conveyor between the chip lanes. Seasoning can be quite expensive, and the disposal of the excess seasoning is not an economic alternative. Unfortunately, the recycling of the excess seasoning can also be problematic. For example, recycling of the seasoning can change the characteristics of the seasoning that is recycled. With handling, the particulate size of the seasoning can change. As noted previously, many seasonings, such as those with cheese ingredients, are very hydroscopic. Recycling and prolonged exposure to ambient conditions, even in a relatively controlled environment, can therefore change the characteristics of such seasoning. There is also the potential that oil absorbed by seasoning that falls off of chips on the seasoning conveyor can change the characteristics of the seasoning. The absorption of either oil or water by the seasoning particles can make the seasoning sticky, therefore subject to lumping together and adhering to the seasoning apparatus. Further, when the characteristics of the seasoning change, either the process must be modified to adjust for such changes, which can affect, among other properties, the adhesion and flavor characteristics of the seasoning, or the seasoning must be discarded.
Consequently, a need exists for a seasoning distribution method and apparatus that evenly distributes powdered or granular seasoning on a stackable chip product while limiting the amount of seasoning that must be either recycled or discarded. Such invention should be easily adaptable to a stackable chip product line so as not to interfered with chip stacking steps. Preferably, such invention should comprise a mechanically simple design capable of operating continuously without the accumulation of seasoning particles on the seasoning apparatus.
The proposed invention comprises a series of funnel fingers to channel powdered seasonings on chips. The funnel fingers are mounted as a part of a rail that vibrates, thereby promoting even distribution of the seasoning and precluding seasoning from adhering to the funnel fingers. Each individual funnel finger is oriented over a lane of chips and tapers such that the funnel opening immediately above the lane of chips is less than the width of a single chip. In order to minimize wastage between chips, the chips are placed in contact from tip to tip prior to passing below the seasoning funnel fingers.
The proposed invention limits the amount of seasoning that requires recycling or disposal while also insuring a uniform distribution of the seasoning on the chip product. The proposed invention is a mechanically simple design that allows for the continuous distribution of the seasoning without the accumulation of seasoning on the seasoning apparatus. Further, the present invention is easily adaptable to a stackable chip product line in place of a conventional seasoning curtain device.
The above as well as additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following written detailed description.